Course Details
Country:
Multiple
Institution:
External - Semester at Sea
Course Title:
Gender In World Literature
Course Number:
E330
Course Description:
E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End (1912) has received much critical attention, but it is the two-word phrase, “Only Connect!” that has most enduringly remained as instruction for an increasingly fragmented world. Connect to one another, find common ground, celebrate unity. There is probably no better catchphrase to suggest the community typified by Semester at Sea, and really no better way to suggest the value of what literature might provide. But, of course, connection is never such an easy thing, and it is often the attempt to come to terms with both isolation and intimacy that fuels literature. Indeed, Forster’s novel is much more about conflict than reconciliation, as he seeks to consider how gender, poverty, and a notion of the nation have created deep-seated social and economic prejudices. Yet connection is still possible in spite of these differences.
This course offers a consideration of contemporary world literature in an effort to work through the implications of connection. We will look specifically at gender representations and sexual politics in a wide range of world literature, focusing particularly on the countries we will discover in our voyage. The course considers how historical and cultural processes in various geographic areas shape discourses about normative and non-normative sexual practices and gender roles, as well as how gender is imbricated in other social identity locations such as class, race, and nationality. Focusing primarily on the novel, we will read literary works that reinforce, interrogate, or complicate understandings of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality. Readings include Arivand Adiga, The White Tiger; Mo Yan, Red Sorghum; E.M. Forster, A Passage to India; Abena Busia, ed., Women Writing Africa. Students will engage in both reflective and analytical writing as they investigate and report on their voyage experiences. They will be required to write journals, formal papers, and in-class examinations.
Language:
English
Approved Equivalent:
ENGH 202
Attachment Files:
Weber_E-330_Gender-in-World-Literature-syllabus.pdf
